Trigger guard plug

ABSTRACT

A trigger plug or device that will be deformable enough to be compressively interfit into or within the area of a weapon&#39;s trigger guard so as to be positioned on both sides of and enclose or encase the trigger yet be able to be pushed out of its position in a fluid manner by an index finger of a shooter pushing on a surface of a front projection thereby ejecting the device with the finger coming to rest against a now exposed trigger.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is or may be subject to copyright or mask work protection. The copyright or mask work owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright or mask work rights whatsoever.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

The present invention is related to and claims the priority benefit of the following co-pending U.S. patent application which is commonly owned with the present application, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/122,340, entitled “Trigger Guard Housing cover Device,” filed on Oct. 16, 2014.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to the field of firearms and more specifically to a trigger guard plug that can be used within the trigger guard of any type or form of weapon or firearm. The trigger guard plug, or trigger plug, will be formed of a material that will compress, deform or be able to be pressed into the trigger guard of the weapon, it will occupy spaces in front of and behind the trigger, and will substantially enclose the trigger of a firearm within the trigger guard, yet permit a knowledgeable individual to push on and eject the device or trigger plug out of its compressive fit within the trigger guard with an index finger in a fluid manner thereby permitting and enabling the individual to push the plug away, and to eject the plug and engage a now unenclosed trigger and be ready to fire the weapon. Both right hand and left hand versions are disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a trigger plug or guard device that fills at least a selected portion or area within the inner area of trigger guard housing of a gun or weapon to enclose the trigger from both the front and behind, yet is capable of being quickly ejected from within the trigger guard as part of a fluid shooting process.

DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXAMPLES OF THE INVENTION Brief Description of Figures

The invention is better understood by reading the following detailed description together with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention showing a weapon and a trigger plug or device for use and removal by a right-handed shooter;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing the trigger plug installed inside the trigger guard;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the weapon of FIG. 2 from the left side;

FIG. 4 is front elevational view of the trigger plug;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the trigger plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view of the trigger plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the trigger plug vice of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a right side elevational view of the trigger plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the trigger plug of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the trigger plug for a left handed shooter;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a left side of a weapon showing an installed trigger plug for a left handed shooter;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a trigger plug; and

FIG. 13 is an enlarged front elevational view of the trigger plug shown in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A. Overview

To gain a better understanding of the invention, the preferred embodiments will now be described in detail. Frequent reference will be made to the drawings. Reference numerals or letters will be used throughout to indicate certain parts or locations in the drawings. The same reference numerals or letters will be used to indicate the same parts and locations throughout the drawings, unless otherwise indicated.

B. Environment

The preferred embodiment now described will be with respect to weapons or firearms of a variety of forms, including but not limited to handguns, rifles, shotguns, automatic weapons, military weapons, and training guns. The scale of each of the embodiments, therefore, is to be understood with respect to this type of article. It is to be understood as well, however, that the invention is applicable to other like articles or devices, and its scale as well as its sizes, the spacing between projections, and their locations can and will vary from one weapon type to another, or from one manufacturer to another, with all being considered to be within the scope and province of the present invention.

C. Structure

Referring now to the invention in more detail, FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention with a weapon 10, for example a Smith & Wesson handgun, having a receiver frame 11, a trigger guard 12 that is attached to the frame 11, a trigger 14 movably mounted in the frame 11, a barrel 15 that is housed within a slide assembly 16 that is itself slidably mounted to the frame 11, a handle 18 that is part of and depends from frame 11, and a trigger plug or device 20. This particular design of the trigger plug is for use and removal by a right-handed shooter. A trigger plug or device for a left-handed shooter is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 at 100.

The trigger plug or device 20 includes a solid rear or outer wall 22, shown in FIG. 3-9, with an outer periphery or edge surface 21, a front or forward projection 24 that extends outwardly from a front side 23 of the outer wall 22, and a rear projection 26 that also extends outwardly from the front side 23 of the outer wall 22. The front and rear projections 24/26 define a void space or opening 28 there between so that when the device 20 is compressively fit into the trigger guard 12, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the trigger 14 will itself be enclosed within the void or open space 28 from both the front and rear, but on only one side of the trigger 14. Front projection 24 also has a front or outer surface 25 and rear projection 26 has a front surface 27. Both front or outer surfaces 25 and 27 can be planar or shaped to permit accurate placement and ejection of the device from its mounted position within the trigger guard.

Within the trigger guard 12 there is a space 30 in front of trigger 14 and a space 32 behind trigger 14 as shown in FIG. 1. Spaces 30/32 will be filled by projections 24/26, respectively, as is shown in FIG. 2, with trigger 14 being enclosed within the space 28.

The front or forward projection 24 has a top edge surface 40, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, 8 and 9, an outer side surface 42, and an inner surface 44 facing the front of trigger 14. As was noted previously, the outer surface 25 can, for example, be either a planar or instead could be formed with a shaped surface such as a dimple or a recess as shown at 36 in FIG. 9. The rear projection 26 has a top edge surface 46, an outer side surface 48, and an inner surface 50 that faces the rear of trigger 14 and together with inner surface 44 defines the side boundaries of void space 28 that will enclose or fit around trigger 14. The embodiment of device 20 shown in FIG. 1-9 also could include a bottom surface shown in dotted line at 52 in FIG. 7 that could extend along and connect the bottoms of projections 24/26 and would span across and close the bottom of space 28. Thus, an outer periphery of device 20 will comprise surfaces 40, 42, 52 (if used), 48 and 46, plus the portions of outer wall 22 that spans behind the gap or void space 28, and between surfaces 46 and 40.

As shown in FIG. 1 the trigger guard 12 has an inner surface 60 that extends downwardly from where the trigger guard connects to frame 11, at the front of frame 11, and then curves and extends beneath trigger 14 to a point adjacent handle 18. There are also spaces surrounding trigger 14. One is shown by space 32 that is located behind trigger 14. Space 32 has a boundary surface that includes a rear surface of trigger 14, part of the inner surface 60 as well as surface 62 that extends from the point where trigger guard 14 engages handle 18 and then upwardly and then horizontally along a portion beneath frame 11 toward the rear of trigger 14. The other space is space 30, in front of trigger 14, is bounded by an upper surface 64 that extends horizontally from in front of trigger 14 along frame 11 and then extends downwardly a slight distance to where inner surface 60 begins on trigger guard 12, a portion of inner surface 60, and by the front surface of trigger 14. Collectively surfaces 60-64 define the boundary surface within trigger guard 12 around the trigger 14 and within which device 20 and projections 24/26 will compressively fit. That is achieved by having device top edge surface 40 compressively fit against surface 64, by having side surface 42 compressively fit against a depending portion of inner surface 60, by having portions of device surfaces 46 and 48 compressively fit against guard surface 62, by having the lower portions of surfaces 42 and 48 and bottom surface 52 compressively fit against a lower portion of surface 62 and portions the inner surface 60 of trigger guard 12, so that trigger 14 will thereby be enclosed or encased within space 28.

As shown in FIG. 3, the periphery 21 of outer wall 22 could fit beneath surfaces 62 and 64 and lie against a side of the trigger guard 12, or the periphery 21 could fit flush against the trigger guard 12 and the outer peripheral edges of surfaces 62 and 64.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-9 the periphery 21 of the rear or outer wall 22 can be formed to extend radially beyond projections 24/26. For example, outer wall 22 can include a radially extending flange 70 as shown in FIG. 8 where outer wall extends outwardly from the side of the front projection 24, from a point at the top of surface 42 and flange 70 can extend down surface 42 along the bottom 52 and partially upwardly along the rear of side surface 48 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6-9. Further, the front portion of projection 24 can have an outwardly extending flange 74 at its upper right corner and another flange 76 at its lower right corner. The bottom left front corner of the rear projection 26 can also be provided with an outwardly extending flange 78 as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 8 and 9.

It should be understood as well that the entire outer periphery of outer wall 22 could extend outwardly as a flange around the whole device 20, or its outer periphery could extend outwardly only in selected or spaced apart locations about that periphery as may be desired for any particular weapon and its individual trigger guard design. Likewise, additional flanges could be provided around all or only along selected portions of the outer periphery of the front and rear projections 24/26 as may be desired or necessary to provide the desired compressive fit for any particular weapon and its specifically shaped trigger guard design.

The compression fit of the front and rear projections 24/26, or where used each of the flanges, should provide a sufficient amount of compression, or for flanges they should be of a sufficient shape and size, to hold the device 20 in place within the trigger guard 12 of a weapon 10. That compressive or pressing fit should hold device 20 in place with the trigger guard 12, for example, being positioned between flanges 70 and 78 on one side and between flanges 70 and 74 on an opposite side, depending upon which flanges, if any, are formed and used. That position and fit will remain in place until sufficient pressure is exerted on the device, for example on the front surface 25 of projection 24, so that in a fluid motion a shooter can move or push device 20 out of its compressive fit within trigger guard 12 thereby ejecting the device 20, again by pushing with the index finger against surface 25, to thereby expose the trigger 14 to the same index finger that can then come to rest against trigger 14.

For left handed shooters a left handed version of the trigger plug or device 100 is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The trigger plug or device 100 includes a solid rear or outer wall 102, a front projection 104 that extends outwardly from a front side 105 of the outer wall 102, a rear projection 106 that also extends outwardly from the front side 105 of the outer wall 102. The front and rear projections 104/106 also define a void space or opening 108 there between so that when the device 100 is compressively fit into the trigger guard 12, as was described for device 20, the trigger 14 will itself be enclosed within the void or open space 108 from both the front and rear, but still from only one side of the trigger 14, that side being opposite from that shown for the right handed shooter type device 20. Front projection 104 also has a front surface 110 and rear projection 106 has a front surface 112.

In this left handed embodiment, the front projection 104 has a top edge surface 140 that extends around the outer side of projection 104 to a side surface 142, as shown in FIG. 11, an inner surface 144 facing trigger 14. The rear projection 106 has a top edge surface 146, a side edge surface 148 and an inner surface 150 that faces the rear of trigger 14 and together with inner surface 144 defines the side boundaries of void space 108 that will enclose trigger 14. This embodiment of device 100 could also include, if desired, a bottom surface shown in phantom at 152 in FIG. 10 that could extend along the bottom of projections 104/106 and span across the space 108 and could interconnect to or with each of the side surfaces 142 and 148.

The left handed version 100 could also, if desired, be provided with outwardly extending flanges as discussed above for the right handed device 20. For example, the outer front and back bottom corners of rear projection 106 are shown as having a front flange 160 and a rear flange 162, respectively. The top outer corners of the front projection 104 are shown as having a front flange 170 and a rear flange 172, respectively. It should be understood that other front and/or rear flanges can be provided in various manners, designs, locations and sizes that would be specifically designed for and work best with a particular weapon and its individual trigger guard design, all without departing from the present invention.

The compression fit for this left-handed embodiment of the front and rear projections 104/106, or where used each of the various flanges that could be used, should again as with the right handed device 20 provide a sufficient amount of compression within the trigger guard that would provide the desired fit, or for flanges they should be of a sufficient shape and size, to hold the device 100 in place within the trigger guard 12 of a weapon 10 until sufficient pressure is exerted on the device. As with the right hand version, the pressure would be applied by a shooters left index finger pushing on the front surface 110 of projection 104, so that in a fluid motion a shooter can move device 100 out of its compression fit within trigger guard 12 thereby ejecting the device 100 to thereby expose the trigger 14 and with the left index finger then coming to rest against trigger 14.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show a modified version of a right handed version of a trigger guard device 200 that is comprised of a rear or outer wall 202, a front projection 204, and a small rear projection 206, with both projections 204 and 206 extending out from a front surface 208 of the rear or outer wall 202. In this embodiment the front projection 204 will fit compressively into the space 230 within trigger guard 222 of the weapon 220, in a manner similar to that discussed previously for projection 24.

Front projection 204 is also shown with an outer upper right flange 216 and a bottom center flange 218. The rear wall 202 can also include on the right side of its periphery a flange 224 extending about projection 204 and on the left side a flange 226 as well as a bottom flange 228. If desired, flanges 224 and 226 could interconnect across the top, or they could extend only along a desired segment of the outer periphery of rear wall 202. Likewise, the bottom portion of flanges 224 and 226 could extend into the bottom flange 228.

The rear projection 206 will be located within space 232 and lie behind and is spaced from trigger 214. While projection 206 may not fit compressively within the whole of space 232, as shown in FIG. 13, the rear projection 206 has an outer surface 207 that can interfit compressively or in a manner that would push against a portion of the inner surface 262 of trigger guard 222, and/or a bottom edge 209 could be formed so as to also press against a portion of inner surface 260 of trigger guard 222. The front projection 204 will have an outer periphery 210 that will compressively engage surface 264 and a portion of inner surface 260 within space 230 to firmly hold and retain device 200 within the trigger guard 222 yet be held so that a shooter would be able to push with an index finger against the outer surface 212 of front projection 204 and in a fluid motion move device 200 out of its compression fit within trigger guard 222 thereby ejecting device 200 with the index finger then coming to rest against trigger 214.

It should also be understood that a left handed version of this embodiment would have the positions of the projections 204/206 switched as was the case for the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, with projection 204 in that situation being the front projection and extending from the opposite end of the rear wall 208 from that shown in FIG. 12.

Each of the devices 20, 100 and 200 can be made from a variety of materials including but not limited to any material capable of being elastic, compressible, sufficiently deformable, or able to be changed in shape so that it can fit snugly within the trigger guard 12 of a weapon 10 yet be capable of removal from the trigger guard 12 by the application of pressure by the finger of an individual. Such materials, for example, can include plastics, foams, thermoplastics, polymeric materials, rubbers, latex, neoprene, compounded materials from a combination of materials, elastomers, synthetic materials including synthetic rubber, elastic, compressible or deformable materials, and other like materials.

As trigger guards of weapons vary widely in size, shape and fit, the present invention may be of any dimensions capable of and suitable for filling the trigger guard housing area and to be able to enclose the trigger of any particular weapon, with a void in the shape of the dimensions corresponding to those of any trigger. In one embodiment, that would be suitable for a Smith & Wesson handgun, the outer wall 22 can have a horizontal length of about 1.75 inches and a height of about 1.2 inches (45 mm×30 mm). The front projection 24 can have a front surface length of about 0.75 inches and a width of about 0.875 inches (20 mm×22 mm). The rear projection 26 can a front surface length of about 0.75 inches and a width of about 0.5 inches (19 mm×12.7 mm). The outer wall 22 can have a thickness of about 0.0625 inches (1.6 mm) and the height at which the projections 24/26 project outwardly from surface 23 can be about 0.4375 inches (11.113 mm). The design for the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 would be best suited for a Glock model handgun, and other designs could be formed for other types of weapons and their individual triggers and trigger guard designs, shapes and sizes.

It should be understood that the foregoing dimensions are representative of only one embodiment, but establish a size and relative inter-relationship between the various parts.

D. Operation

As noted previously, what is important is for the device is that it will have an interference fit within the trigger guard. This can occur by having the device be formed from a material that is deformable, elastic, compressible or malleable enough to be pressed into the spaces 30/32 within the boundary established by the trigger guard and to enclose the trigger and will push back against the retaining surfaces to hold the device in place. In some embodiments the device can also include outwardly extending flanges extending from desired portions of the front and/or rear projections, and/or from the outer side to help hold the device in place using all or selected portions of front and rear peripheral edges. At the same time the pressed fit condition will be enough to permit a secure fit until sufficient pressure is exerted on the device, for example by a shooters index finger pushing on a front surface of a front projection so that in a fluid manner a shooter can move device out of its pressed fit within the trigger guard thereby ejecting the device with the index finger to thereby expose the trigger and with a continuation of that motion positioning the index finger against a now exposed trigger.

As an additional feature, the front surfaces 25, 110 and 212 of the front projections can also be provided with a defined portion that can, for example, include a shaped center area, a roughened area, a raised central portion, or be a centrally located recess. Such a defined area is shown in dashed line at 215 in FIG. 12 and at 36 in FIG. 9, for example. This defined area can provide an additional finger push point or a sensory highlighted area that can be used to locate a shooters index finger against the front projection at a desired position for ejecting the device from its secured or compressed position within the trigger guard and in a fluid manner exposing the trigger and for allowing the index finger to then lie against the trigger.

When introducing elements of various aspects of the present invention or embodiments thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements, unless stated otherwise. The terms “comprising,” “including” and “having,” and their derivatives, are intended to be open-ended terms that specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, and/or steps, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, and/or steps and mean that there may be additional features, elements, components, groups, and/or steps other than those listed. Moreover, the use of “top” and “bottom,” “front” and “rear,” “above,” and “below” and variations thereof and other terms of orientation are made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientation of the components. The terms of degree such as “substantially,” “about” and “approximate,” and any derivatives, as used herein mean a reasonable amount of deviation of the modified term such that the end result is not significantly changed. For example, these terms can be construed as including a deviation of at least +/−5% of the modified term if this deviation would not negate the meaning of the word it modifies.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A removable trigger guard plug for use with a weapon having a trigger that is operatively located within a trigger guard that can be pushed out of a plug position as part of a fluid shooting motion, comprising: an outer wall having front and rear sides; forward and rearward projections extending laterally away from the front side of the outer wall for a predetermined distance, the forward projection having a front surface; and at least one recess defined between the forward and rearward projections with at least the forward projection compressively inter fitting within a space within an interior of the trigger guard of the weapon forward of the trigger so that the trigger is enclosed by the recess, and so that a shooter's trigger finger can push against the front surface of the forward projection to dislodge the trigger plug thereby exposing the trigger.
 2. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein the rear side of the outer wall is substantially flat.
 3. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein the outer wall extends over at least a portion of an outer periphery of the trigger guard.
 4. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein the trigger plug is an integrally molded structure.
 5. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein a bottom wall is formed to span across a bottom of each of the forward and rearward projections and across a bottom of the at least one recess.
 6. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 further including a plurality of flanges that extend radially from portions of each of the forward and rearward projections.
 7. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 further including a plurality of flanges that extend outwardly from selected portions of front and rear edges of the trigger guard plug.
 8. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein the forward projection includes a front surface.
 9. The trigger guard plug as in claim 8 wherein the front surface includes a shaped recess.
 10. The trigger guard plug of claim 1 wherein the trigger plug is formed from a deformable material.
 11. A compressive trigger guard plug comprising: a wall member having front and rear surfaces; a pair of members extending outwardly from the front surface so as to define a slot there between; at least a first of the pair of members having selected outer surfaces that compressively inter fit within a weapon trigger guard between a front surface of a trigger and inner surfaces of the trigger guard; and the other of the pair of members inter fitting within the trigger guard and a rear surface of the trigger and compressively against a portion of an inner surface of the trigger guard
 12. The trigger guard plug as in claim 11 wherein the other of the pair of members compressively inter fits against an elongated portion the inner surface of the trigger guard.
 13. The trigger guard plug as in claim 11 wherein the other of the pair of members is spaced rearwardly from the rear surface of the trigger.
 14. The trigger guard plug as in claim 11 further including a web member inter connecting bottom surfaces of the pair of members.
 15. A method of safely securing a trigger of a weapon with a device and to fluidly eject the device to expose the trigger comprising the steps of: forming a device from a deformable material; providing forward and rearward projections with the forward projection having an exposed front surface compressively inter-fitting the deformable device within a weapon trigger guard and around the front and rear of a trigger; forming the exposed front surface with a defined portion; and pushing against the defined portion and fluidly ejecting the device from its plugged position while simultaneously freeing and exposing the trigger. 